Filmmaker and Sand Artist

The Greater Los Angeles JACL held its monthly meeting Feb. 17 at the Merit Park Recreation Hall in Gardena. Steve Nagano (third from right) showed his short film “The Arts District Without Artists,” which is about the eviction last year of artists from the Joannes Building in L.A.’s Arts District after living and working there for decades. Nagano and his wife Patty (second from right) gave a talk about efforts to preserve Little Tokyo. Akifumi Kasanuki (left) gave a demonstration of sand art, illustrating a Japanese folk tale with the images projected on a screen (below). He performs in Yamanashi Prefecture and is a member of Nihonga-In, a Japanese painting academy in Tokyo. At right is Janet Okubo of GLA JACL. (J.K. YAMAMOTO/Rafu Shimpo)